Family In Town

Gma and Gpa were in town for Troy and Kristin's baby, so we had a fun Sunday dinner a bit ago. Ammon had a chance to open a birthday gift from them. He loved the attention!

Now he has a game of his own. He said, "I have my own DS!" Not quite, but it is fun to see him play along side of his siblings.

Yummy sundaes!

Denham and Brenin were also in town. Fun to have the boys all together!

ZipLine

Many moons ago, Gma and Gpa Wardwell had given our family a zipline for Christmas. Well, it has been a very cold winter, so the first hint of warmth we finally installed the fun. It was a lot of work, but worth it.

Now if only we can figure out how to stop...

Ammon thought he'd like to try it...never happened!

Raegan loved the thrill...with a bit of help of course.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ammon

Ammon is officially 3 years old! He is so excited and loves the attention. He's been practicing how to hold up 3 fingers...it's the funniest thing to watch!

This past week was my week to teach play group and so I was able to spotlight the two birthday kids... Makenzie Fenn and of course my little buddy Ammon. So they got to wear a crown and make cupcakes. I think Ammon is especially sweet on Macs so this picture was so perfect.

Trent had made Ammon some birthday pancakes with sprinkles. One he made in the shape of Mickey Mouse's toodles from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon.

Hope your wishes come true my sweet boy! Happy Birthday to you!

Coach Trent

Trent was asked to coach Raegan's soccer team. I know he is pretty excited to do this. After two rain-outs Raegan had her first game. She had been looking forward to this for a long time!! She loved it all. At first I think she had a hard time with dad as her coach, because he didn't give her all of the attention, and in turn he wasn't trying to show bias...but overall, it was a great practice/game. I'm so proud of her.

Albany Marathon

As much as I wish Trent would get on here and put his own words to this post...that won't happen. Trent and I had signed up for the annual Snickers Marathon Energy Bar in Albany, Georgia. Well, I learned that we both can't train for a race at the same time...it takes a lot of time and effort so I sort of gave up. I'll admit it was hard for me to see him work so hard for something I wanted to do. But I was proud of him to complete the race in a great time. Despite an annoying blister that popped up 3/4th of the way through and a bad ankle from last summer, he was able to keep up with the 4 hour pace group for a huge chunk of the time. He was able to finish at 4 hours and 7 mins! Great job honey, you did it!

Strawberry Time

Oh how I love to make Strawberry Jam...or is it Jelly? I know there is a difference, but oh well. I missed a great window of opportunity when Strawberries were dirt cheap at Valentine's Day at the Farmer's Market...next year... But I was still able to get a decent deal from the store. Freezer Jam is so easy and quick to make. It literally took only 45 mins to make so much (with my little helper). Clean up is a whole other time frame...

Someone had a lot of test samples...

Mouth Watering

Spring-like Weather

The weather has been soooo nice!!! We have taken every advantage to get out and enjoy it. The kids had 'winter break' this past week, so we've gone to the park and fed ducks and biked around Lake Peachtree and had picnics...so wonderful!

feeding ducks-saw some friends too

The wind was a little cool and gusty coming off the lake, but still a perfect day to be out. Ammon is too funny drowning in my jacket!

Rian

Crazy Crazy Day

The day after getting back into town from the funeral...life is back full force with responsibilities. The weekly grocery shopping had to be done...so with Raegan's help, we hit all three stores and their sales. Well, Walmart I still shop for a few things and I dread it every week! As I'm ready to wash my hands of the shopping trip I'm backing out to leave the parking lot and I hear and feel a crunch! REALLY!?! Luckily it wasn't my fault and the ladys' insurance is already working on it. Life is full of surprises!

Remembering...

My last living grandparent George Edward Maynard, my mom's dad, had just past away the day after his 94th birthday. I had the great privilege to fly out and be with my family and my mom. I really hadn't been to a funeral or a service of anyone I knew before, so this whole experience was new to me. At the same time, this experience was a relief for my grandfather. Although he'd never been seriously ill or physically deprived, he was heart broken without my grandmother who had died 10 yrs earlier. I was glad to have the opportunity for not only me to know him, but my kids as well.

Summer 2010

My mom's brother and his family and our family were all able to be there.

Family together

Palmers

Maynard's

The next day we drove down to Tucson for my grandfather to be buried next to his wife. A grave stone was made for both of them together.






farewell to you, we love you and will see you again

While I Was Away...

...some family wanted to take advantage of the snow and drive up to Sunrise Ski Resort. Ah, it was such a beautiful day...6 inches of fresh powder, sunny day, not too crowded and family to enjoy it with. Now have I snowboarded recently? Heck no! So this was like starting all over again. I have a large bruise on the back of my leg to show where I landed on my bindings coming off one of the lifts...and still a few stiff muscles to remind me of the long, but awesome day.

These "mountains" may not be like Utah where I learned to board, but it still kicked some butt! It was a great day to be with family. I love you guys, and I'm glad I could come with all of you. I miss all of you so much.

Dan, Me, Tony, Shanda--Jared taking the pic.

While I was away, my husband got out the compressor and fixed the kids' bikes! Oh it made their week! They still can't get enough of riding their bikes. Raegan and Tarin made it a goal this year to ride without training wheels...well they did it! As soon as I got home, they wanted to show me all day long. I'm so proud of them!

Although this isn't a big bike, Ammon can now pedal his bike like a big boy! He loves it!

It's Here!

This is Tarin's first time and my first experience in the whole "Girl Scouts" world. With that comes the adventure of GS cookies! I do appreciate the group that Tarin is in...not too pushy. I've come across other moms or leaders that are GS Nazi's and I'm so glad our group is easy going and still has fun. Thanks to all of those who contributed. Time to distribute! *as you can see these were our top sellers*

Packin' Up

So this would be a few of us packing up the ward to move to another building. The church is growing in this area and there are now 3 full wards in Coweta county! The building can't accommodate the 3 large wards overlapping, so the cards have been shuffled on us. We, the Sharpsburg Ward, have been relocated to the Peachtree City Bldg. with the Peachtree City Ward. We are so sad to leave, it means less opportunities to see our friends in the other wards that we have loved for so long. But change usually is good...right?!

Temple, Primary, Pictures...

A long day happened last weekend. But it was well worth it! Mike Cabrera, new husband of Katie Duncan (Wardwell side of family) went through the Birmingham Temple for his own endowments. He had asked Trent to be his escort, what an honor! I had planned to go as well, but with a 2 1/2 hours drive to and then 2 1/2 from the temple and an hour time change, it was going to be a long day to 'drop' our kids off. Trent ended up being in the temple for 5 hours (not complaining, but he said it was a long day).

Trent and Mike

Mike and Katie

That same day we had a Stake Primary Activity, 45 mins away at the stake center. With an extra seat in the van, so we took a less active girl, Tarin's age. It was a lot of fun!

This little guy, all by himself, keeps me so busy! He's a fireball of destruction!

After the activity, we stopped for a super fast, super cheap lunch...then off to the Bakes house. I had the opportunity to take their daughters', Haley, baptism pictures. So I dropped the kids off and away we went. We ended up at Starr's Mill, popular place to be. It was a warm, sunny, beautiful day in the low 70's. It was late afternoon so the sun was a bit harsh, but I think we were able to get some good ones. Here are just a few of the pictures I've been able to work on.

This was a lot of fun. But by the end of the day, I was exhausted! Trent didn't get home until 10pm, but I was ready to go nie nie!